AcBel 450-watt "Intelligent Power Series" PSU Review - The PSU

Mike has checked in with yet another power supply review from a newcomer on the block called AcBel Polytech with their 450-watt "Intelligent Power Series". The company has long produced power supplies for the OEM market but like many recently acknowledged the growth in the consumer market and the need for better quality and fancy power products. So what is so Intelligent about this product compared to others? Read on!

As far as overall looks go, the AcBel is pretty standard fare. The black housing is a nice change of pace from the silver models on the market and will fit nicely into a black enclosure with a side window. A side window seems to be a very popular customization, so why not take advantage of a matching PSU?

As you can see above, the fan is larger than many available. It measures in at 120mm in size and also includes a multi-color LED feature that alternates colors of the lights. A very nice touch if you are looking for a little extra lighting inside your box but don't want to go overboard with cold cathode or neon. It also has a built-in thermal probe to keep the fans spinning at lower speeds when the system detects the temperatures are not too hot. Spinning at full speed, though, the fan still only emits about 18dBA of sound, so you can be assured of a quiet operation.

As you can see, there is a heaping helping of power connectors available in this model. In total you will find six Molex connectors, two FDD connectors, two SATA connectors, a 24-pin main power coupling, a 4-pin supplemental connector and a PCI-E connector.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of cable sleeving in an enthusiast power supply, though. Only the main power set has any sort of cable management device; the other sets of cables only have a few zip ties down their length to keep them kinda in order.

Yes, I noted a 24-pin main power coupling above. For those with the new Intel LGA775 processor, you likely have a motherboard requiring this new power connection. The AcBel 450 is fully compatible with this new standard so you don't have to worry about powering your new toy. For those of us with the older standard, there is an included converter that ports this coupling back to the regular 20-pin variety.

When I first saw the Molex connectors, I wasn't sure what the deal was with the protruding grips. The first time I tried to remove a connector, though, I figured out a good use for them. Those little chunks of plastic can be squeezed together a bit and this helps loosen the Molex from the connection. Some of the tighter connectors still required a bit of work to disconnect, but overall the effort was a good deal less to unhook everything. A nice touch here.